


Fated for Greatness

by DeeNomilk



Series: Tashok the Dragonborn [20]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: ? - Freeform, Angst, Flashbacks, Inigo's quest, Kinda, Langley brings back some not so distant memories, bad self-confidence, mild verbal abuse, yeah it's angst again y'all three works in a row
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 12:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20471360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeeNomilk/pseuds/DeeNomilk
Summary: Tashok, Lucien and Inigo talk with Langley to find out exactly why Inigo has been experiencing mind vibrations.





	Fated for Greatness

**Author's Note:**

> This is where we touch on Inigo's part of the story! By the way, I've gone back through my old works for this series and edited them a bit more! Doesn't change the story, but does add a few slight details/corrections. And the occasional illustration.

“I didn’t need the eggs.” Langley scoffs. “I just need you out of the house for a bit so we could talk… Keep them, turn them into an omelette for all I care.”

Tashok is glad she sat at the table, because her knees would have certainly given out. Lucien sends her a sympathetic look from the door.

“You didn’t need them?!” Tashok’s voice is up more pitches she ever thought possible. “Why didn't you just ask me to step out! I would’ve given you some time!”

Langley doesn’t respond right away, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly as he ponders her words.

“…Anyway.” Langley decides it’s best to just move on. “Inigo and I had a bit of chat and he’s persuaded me that you can be trusted. It seems we three are in this together.”

“What is, er… This?” Tashok asks.

“I’ve given him my notes and I’m sure he’ll let you read through everything. If you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them. Maybe you should talk to Inigo first, though…”

Langley stands up to leave and Inigo wastes no time to explain things to her.

“Apparently I have my own prophecy…” he says. “If you want to hear about it I’ll tell you what I know. Langley says we are going to save the world.”

“Save.. the world?” Tahsok blinks as she processes the news.

“That is, of course unless you think we have something better to do…” Inigo quickly adds.

“N-no! Of course not!” she sputters. It seems Inigo had interpreted her stunned silence as some sort of objection. “It’s just… wow… Save the world. That’s uh, that’s a lot, no?”

“You are right about that, my friend.” Inigo scratches the back of his head.

“And your head? Does it feel better now?”

“It is still a little tender.” Inigo rubs his temples. “Oh. That reminds me! You should ask Langley about the summon spell that has been causing my mind vibrations. He has a spare copy, maybe he will let you give it a go. My mind is not keen on the idea but I think a spell like that could be useful, my friend.”

“Summon spell?” Tashok considers this for a moment. “But I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Then again, you are a Conjurer…” Lucien interjects. “Perhaps you might be able to approach it from a more knowledgable angle.”

She turns to Langley, who is busying himself with some alchemy.

She swallows hard. She doesn’t like the idea of having to approach the man. Since he'd awakened she'd been hiding, as laughable as it sounds, behind Inigo.

“But first, what’s this saving the world prophecy?” she turns to her friend once more.

“I will tell you what I know.” Inigo says. “Okay, the Inigo Prophecy. Somewhere out there in the world, there is a very nasty being gathering its strength. If left unchecked, it will grow until its evil influence burns away all that is good in this world. It has appeared in Langley’s dreams for many years, often as a gigantic figure striding through the land leaving nothing but pain, anguish, and death in its wake. He calls it the Doom Strider. In the same dream he sometimes sees a handsome blue Khajiit,” Tashok smiles at Inigo’s description of himself. “Defeat the menace with his help. He calls this fellow The Champion.”

Tashok’s smile grows as she points a cheerful finger at her friend.

“Correct. That is me my friend.” Inigo continues. “Much of Langley’s prophecy is hazy and he says that sometimes his dreams show more than one possible outcome, but now that he and I have finally met, he believes we stand a good chance of preventing much suffering.”

Tahsok nods and asks a few more questions, which Inigo answers patiently.

“I hope you will be at my side when the time comes, my friend.” he adds. “Of course, I will do my best to keep this from interfering with my debt to you.”

“Are you kidding?” Tashok huffs in disbelief. “You’re talking about a prophecy where you save the world and you’re worried about how I feel about this?! Inigo, I’m with you all the way. Always.”

“It warms my heart to hear you say that, my friend.” he lets out a sigh of relief. “With your help I know I can finally put some good back into this world.”

“You don’t need me for that, you’re already plenty good by yourself.” Tashok says. “But I’ll have your back every step of the way.”

She slumps back on her chair a bit.

“So you’re quite the chosen one…” she says softly, glancing at him before chuckling. “I have some impressive friends. And then there’s me; a mage apprentice who’s only truly good at making potions and shooting arrows.”

“That is untrue my friend, you are quite talented!”

“I… Okay.”

Tashok doesn’t quite believe the praise, but knows Inigo will not relent on his insistence that she has talent. She stays on the chair across Inigo for several minutes, occasionally glancing to Langley but not quite working up the courage to approach him.

“Are you going to inquire about the spell, my friend?” Inigo asks.

“I, uh.” Damn, no way out now. Tashok gulps and stands up. “Alright…”

She shuffles closer to Langley until the two of them are less than an arm’s length away. She says nothing, wringing her hands through her armoured robe, unsure. She says nothing for a few minutes, and his eyes glance in her general direction when he turns to fetch a book from the end of the table.

“Are you just going to stand there with a blank expression, or do you want something?” Langley sighs exasperatedly.

“I… Uh… Inigo said I should ask about the Summon Inigo spell?” she barely stops herself from backing away from him.

“It’s rubbish! Tosh!” Langley grumbles. “It hardly works at all. All it seems to do it give poor Inigo vague direction to the summoner, and a headache. That Conjuration mage is such a sham!”

“Do you think, uh… I mean, perhaps you…” Tashok fights with her mouth to form the words. “I mean- Is there a possibility that you, well… Are you well versed in Conjuration magic? It could be that, ah, you know… I’m thinking that.. well, no…” her palms feels cold and wet. “Erm, mh… Maybe you perhaps might’ve possibility not really done it properly?”

She holds her breath, anticipating an explosion of anger.

No _"What do you know you stupid Orc?"_

No anger, if not perhaps more irritation than prior.

“I followed the instructions dutifully.” he assures her. “There’s no reason it shouldn’t work. No one knows Inigo better than I do.”

“Knows Inigo? Is that a component of the spell?” her ears perk up at the possibility.

“The Conjuration mage who created the spell told me that as long as I was Inigo’s true friend," Langley sighs. "I should be able to get it to work.”

If that wonderful, satisfying sound of a lock clicking open after being fiddled with using lock picks could be heard outside of that very context, it would be at this precise moment. Tashok’s jaw dropped open in understanding.

“It’s clearly broken.” Langley continues. “I’m the greatest ally Inigo has.”

“Maybe so…" Tashok brings her finger to her lips, frowning as she thinks. “But the two of you had never met before… Perhaps the spell needs you to be more intimately familiar with Inigo…”

“I’ve been tracking him most of my life!” Langley protests. “How much more _familiar_ would you have me be?”

“I mean… Inigo and I know each other pretty well…” Tashok mumbles shyly, her bravado afforded to her by discussing Conjuration quickly fading as the conversation steers back to her personally. “A two way street, you know?”

“Oh, I’m sure you know him a little, but I’ve been studying him for decades.” Langley waves his hand dismissively. “No, if the spell doesn’t work for me, it work work for anyone. Isn’t that right, Inigo?”

Tashok notices Inigo has gotten up from his chair and is now standing next to her.

“I think you should let her try it.” Inigo says.

“Exactly.” Langley nods, satisfied, the words clearly not having registered yet. His eyes snap open once they do. “What?! Why?”

“Langley, I am sure we are great allies in the making, but my friend here and I have a more immediate bond.”

“What do you mean?” Langley frowns in confusion, until his eyes widen. “Oh. I didn’t realize you were… an item.”

Tashok raises her hands, ready to tell Langley his assumption was incorrect, while Lucien snorts and covers his mouth with his hands. Inigo beats her to the protest.

“Not that kind of bond.” he chuckles. “We have travelled together, we have enjoyed sharing our views on many subjects, we have fought bravely side by side.”

“Well, mostly bravely.” Tashok admits.

“Still… I have placed my life in her hands.” Inigo gives her a warm smile. “And she in mine… What I’m trying to say is: we are friends. Go on, hand over a copy of the spell. I am the only one who will suffer if it goes wrong.”

“Besides, she’s an _actual_ Conjuration mage.” Lucien adds. “You won’t get a better person to test this than her.”

Langley looks, dejectedly, between the three of them.

“I see. I won’t argue with you.” he concedes. “Even though it’s a waste of time, I will do as you ask.”

“Thank you, what is the worst that can happen?” Inigo asks.

“Quite a lot, actually.” Tashok says at the same time as Langley answers: “You don’t want to know.”

He turns to her and narrows his eyes.

Tashok feels herself slipping away as her blood turns to ice, freezing her in place. No, now is not the time to disappear.

“If we’re going to do this, we must be scientific.” Langley says. “Inigo, you stay here with him and your friend and I will go outside.”

He strides up to Tashok, eyes cold.

“Once we’re on the path, I’ll give you the spell and you can try, unsuccessfully, to teleport Inigo to us.” Langley isn’t even trying to hide his doubts about her skills. “Stare vacantly if you understand?”

Tashok doesn’t quite know what that’s supposed to mean, but doesn’t dare ask for more instructions. She feels herself almost drifting into space, when Inigo’s clawed hand comes to rest on her shoulder.

“Good luck, my friend” his face comes into focus as her eyes dart to him. “I will wait and brace myself.”

The world is still a bit blurry when she hears Langley’s voice.

“Okay, you can quit the vacant gazing routine now.” he says impatiently. “Come on. We should head outside and get this over with.”

She feels as if she were in a trance as she sheepishly follows Langley outside, her feet feeling numb, and not from the cold.

“Right.” he turns to her. “Let’s get started, here’s the spell.”

She takes it gingerly and opens it. As she reads it over, she notes that while the handwriting is sloppy, the components needed to summon a living being are all present. Even the one sigil representing Nirn as the place of origin is correct.

“I had to pry it open just to read half the incantations.” Langley crosses his arms. “I doubt you’ll have better luck.”

“R-right…” she nods as she flips the pages with trembling fingers.

She re-reads it a few time, careful to take in all the information. Once she’s managed to understand it, the incarnations and many sigils fade into nothingness.

“Inconceivable!” Langley gasps. “You just wait, I bet your hands explode when you cast it.”

Tashok is about to inform him that such a thing doesn’t happen outside of Destruction magic, but quickly thinks better of it.

_“You think you know more than me, is that it?” she hears the past, distant voice mocking her. “Don’t make me laugh…”_

She shakes her head to clear her mind. Now’s not the time to think about _him_.

She cracks her knuckles a few times, hoping to calm the jitters that have taken over her hands, and spares one nervous glance to Langley before focussing on her magic.

With the release of the spell, Inigo appears out of thin air, whole and seemingly uninjured.

“What?!” Langley cries out. “How did you do that?”

“Woah! It worked!” Inigo laughs. “I am outside!”

“How fascinating!” Lucien opens the door to the cabin quickly and descends the stairs.

“I don’t know what to say…” the emotion behind Langley’s voice is hard to pinpoint.

“Let us test its range!” Inigo takes Tashok by the shoulders excitedly. “Try to place me farther away.”

Tashok’s mouth doesn’t seem to be willing to form words at the moment, so she nods. She turns and focusses on a point in the distance. In the blink of an eye, Inigo is there, shouting as to be heard.

“Haha! It worked!” he says as he runs up to her. “My friend! That was wonderful. Did you see?”

Tashok nods again, mouth agape.

“One moment I was inside casually not tasting Langley’s cooking, then WOOSH! I saw your face, then I was out here! It was amazing.”

“Did- did it hurt?” Tashok finally voices her concern.

“It feels good.” Inigo assures her. “No mind vibrations at all… It’s like a brief, warm, embrace followed by a pleasant floaty sensation. There is something else.”

“…Yeah…?”

“When you summonsed me, I felt like I had a choice. That I could choose not to go if I didn’t want to… This is a fantastic tool, my friend. I knew you could do it, you are outstanding!”

Tashok tries to replicate his joy, but can only manage a nervous smile as she feels Langley’s eyes on her.

“Observation: the subject seems physically unaffected by the spell.” Langley starts. “He is however, exhibiting poor character judgement.”

Lucien lets out an offended huff.

“You are a funny fellow, Langley. Poor character judgements my tail.” Inigo laughs. “My friend here did a fantastic job getting the spell to work."

_No don’t say that, you’ll make him angry!_ Tashok’s mind screams.

“Note: the subject is clearly delusional.” Langley frowns.

“The subject does not sound nearly as good as The Champion.” Inigo’s ears droop slightly. “Did I offend you in some way? I hope not… Without you we never would have gained such a wonderful spell. I hope you know we are grateful for all you have done.”

“It’s not you Inigo…”

Tashok feels her stomach drop.

“It’s _her_.” Langley lets the dislike drip from his lips as he locks eyes with Tashok.

If the ground opened up under her and swallowed her up into Oblivion right this instant, she would have let it. A wave of nausea creeps up from her chest while an uncomfortable heat spreads all the way to her palms.

She breaks her gaze away and stares firmly at a suddenly very interesting branch partly lodged into the snow. She closes her eyes when her vision swims, hoping to regain her senses. She barely hears Langley speaking.

“The spell shouldn’t work with just anyone.” he says. “It was_ supposed _to form a bond between us.”

Tashok keeps looking down, but knows Langley has turned his gaze back to her.

She winces.

“This idiot broke it!” he says accusingly.

She wraps her hands loosely to hold both of her arms.

_“Can’t you do anything right? Even with all my instructions you make stupid mistakes and waste my ingredients, and my time! Are you even listening to me? Serves me right for thinking you had any potential… You foolish cretin!”_

Tashok shuts her eyes tightly and exhales, doing her best to get her shaking under control. The casual observer would see her form becoming harder to see, as if it were a mirage or a reflection. A trick of the light even.

“That’s not true, sir.” she hears Lucien’s voice say curtly.

She soon feels the familiar arms holding her, grounding her. Her eyes lift off the place where they had been staring vacantly and she looks to her friend. Lucien looses his hold on her put keeps his hand on her forearm.

“I think that maybe the spell works because of the link my friend and I already share.” Inigo suggests, echoing Tashok’s earlier theory. “You should not take it personally.”

Inigo looks to his two companions, then to Langley.

“We are a team now.” he says. “We need each other and should not be fighting amongst ourselves.”

“_You an I_ are a team!” Langley protests. “All this moron can do is collect eggs. How useful is that going to be when we take on The Doom Strider?”

Tashok’s grip on her arms tighten. Lucien also holds her tighter.

“That is only one of my friend’s many talents.” Inigo pushes. “Trust me, you could not wish for a more worthy ally.”

“…We shall see.” Langley finally concedes, unconvinced. “I hope you’re right… I’m getting cold, I think I’ll head inside. Feel free to make yourself at home and stay as long as you like. When you leave, I’ll be sure to contact you with my _lesser_ version of the spell if I hear anything new.”

“Thank you Langley.” Inigo smiles. “I am glad we finally met.”

“I am too.” he sounds genuine. “I can see you’re every bit the champion this world needs. I’ll see you soon.”

Tashok lets out a breath of relief at the prospect of leaving soon.

“Shall we stay longer my friend?” Inigo asks.

She shakes her head and begins following her two friends when Langley accosts her. If her tremors had started to recede, they were now back in full force.

“I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn earlier.” Langley says despite not sounding sorry at all. “I’m sure you don’t mean to be annoying.”

Tashok brings her hand over her navel and holds on to her elbow.

“S’fine…” she whispers, looking down to her side. “Inigo’s right…”

“Yes I agree.” Langley nods.

Tashok tries to nod, but it only registers as more shaking.

“Please don’t take anything I saw to heart.” Langley adds, a bit more sincerely. “I know I can be insufferable at times.”

“It's okay...” Tashok mumbles, still looking away. “M’used to it…”

Langley says nothing for a moment, the two of them silent. She takes this as an opening to leave and backs away.

“Right…” she hears him say, voice flat and much less harsh than before. “Goodbye for now.”

When she reaches Inigo and Lucien, Inigo speaks up.

“I am glad you are giving Langley a chance, my friend.” he says. “I believe he means well, even if he is not very good at showing it.”

“He’s not that bad…” Tashok shrugs.

_I’ve heard worse…_

“His heart is in the right place, I think.” Inigo continues. “I find him quite amusing.”

Tashok hums noncommittally.

She hopes that she doesn’t have to see Langley again soon. Or at the very least, when he’s in a better mood.

* * *

A few days later Tashok and Inigo are seated outside her home, overlooking the lake while drinking some tea she prepared. They had started discussing Langley.

“He suggested you are not the person I remember.” Inigo says grimly.

“Inigo, I told you this when we first met; I lived in Wayrest my whole life, and only got to Skyrim three months ago.” Tashok says gently.

“What does Langley know, anyway?” Inigo ignores her words. “He does not know you like I do. He does not know about our shared past! No, I will not entertain such a silly idea.”

Tashok’s ears droop down as she looks at her friends with sympathy.

“I am not confused.” Inigo tells himself. “I would know you anywhere. You are my friend. End of story. He is just jealous of our friendship. Pay it no mind… Anyway, that is all I wanted to say. Let us talk of other things.”

“We _are_ friends…” Tashok assures him. “But Inigo, we need to talk about who you think I am.”

“Please, my friend.” it’s now Inigo’s turn to have his ears drooping as he pleads. “Drop it for now, maybe later.”

Tashok looks to him sadly, but nods.

“Alright…” she decides to change the subject. “How about a trip to Winterhold? I am, _intrigued_, by that summoning spell…”

She smirks at him, and as if on cue, her future summoning subject jumps into her lap, meowing for her attention.

**Author's Note:**

> So Langley has a very similar personality and disposition towards Tashok as a certain someone... Only he actually has an excuse for being irritable, and if we're to trust him, doesn't truly mean what he says, and isn't personally attacking you.  
Too bad it feels the same for Tash either way.


End file.
